Day 227: In Ghostlike Fading

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay – Buenos Aires, Argentina

One of the top things tourists do in Buenos Aires is to take day trip to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. With the fast ferry, Colonia is only an hour away. Cheaper ride is slower and takes 3 hours.

Checking out the website of the ferry company, I found out that they have a promotion. For USD 60, you get to leave Buenos Aires 9:30 in the morning, arriving at 12:30 afternoon and leaving Colonia again at 7pm. Didn’t seem like bad deal at all.

The ferry terminal feels more like an airport than a bus station. The Argentinian custom stamps tourists out on one side and the Uruguay’s stamsp them in immediately after.

Colonia’s tourism is really really well managed. Right outside the ferry terminal in Colonia, there’s a tourist information center located in a modern and clean building. The old town of Colonia is totallly pimped out as well. Cobbled streets lined with trees; small cute colonial-styled building; cafes and restaurants; museums and monuments… It’s certainly charming. The town has been declared a UNESCO heritage site.

While I had a lot of fun taking photos in Colonia, after a good 3 hour or so, I ran out of things to do. Would have been nice to bring a book and sit down on the squares to read. I didn’t so I chose to venture outside the old town. It’s noticeably less nice. I didn’t get to go too far into it. There’s supposedly a beach 5km away. Most tourists rent scooters or golf carts to go round town.

Anyway, some photos: